Pump immobilizing means

ABSTRACT

A liquid dispensing pump has its pump plunger guided for axial operative movement through a container closure cap and through a rotary control member mounted on the cosure cap for angular control movement about a fixed axis coincident with the longitudinal axis of the plunger. A locking finger projecting upwardly from the closure cap has a radially deflectible free end portion which is normally displaced from the path of reciprocation of a downwardly directed locking shoulder carried by the plunger, but is resiliently deflectible into such path for axial locking abutment with such shoulder to immobilize the plunger. Cam means carried by the control member is operative in a first position of the member to deflect the free end of the finger into locking relation with the said plunger and is operative in a second rotary position of the control member to permit retraction of the free end of the finger to a normal unstressed position displaced from the path of reciprocation of the locking shoulder.

Knickerbocker Aug. 6, 1974 1 PUMP IMMOBILIZING MEANS [75] Inventor:Michael Gene Knickerbocker, Long Beach, Calif.

[73] Assignee: Diamond International Corporation,

New York, NY.

[22] Filed: June 27, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 374,102

[52] US. Cl 222/384, 222/153, 222/402, 222/402.11 [51] Int. Cl B67d 5/40[58] Field of Search 222/402, 402.11, 153, 384, 222/309; 417/550, 552

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,439,852 12/1922 Tunnel222/384 1,770,672 7/1930 Segal 222/384 3,590,691 7/1971 Magers 222/3843,779,425 12/1973 Edwald 222/153 Primary ExaminerRobert B. ReevesAssistant Examiner-41. Grant Skaggs Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Watson,Cole, Grindle & Watson [5 7] ABSTRACT A liquid dispensing pump has itspump plunger guided for axial operative movement through a containerclosure cap and through a rotary control member mounted on the cosurecap for angular control movement about a fixed axis coincident with thelongitudinal axis of the plunger. A locking finger projecting upwardlyfrom the closure cap has a radially deflectible free end portion whichis normally displaced from the path of reciprocation of a downwardlydirected locking shoulder carried by the plunger, but is resilientlydeflectible into such path for axial locking abutment with such shoulderto immobilize the plunger. Cam means carried by the control member isoperative in a first position of the member to deflect the free end ofthe finger into locking relation with the said plunger and is operativein a second rotary position of the control member to permit retractionof the free end of the finger to a normal unstressed position displacedfrom the path of reciprocation of the locking shoulder.

8 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PUMP IMMOBILIZING MEANS This inventionrelates to improvement in liquid dispensing pumps, such as are commonlyused for dispensing various flowable products, and more particularly toa plunger immobilizing means for selectively immobilizing the movableplunger of the pump to prevent inadvertent discharge or leakage of theproduct during shipment and during periods of non-use of the pump.

Although particularly applicable to pump type dispensers, the inventionis also applicable to the movable actuators or plungers of conventionalreciprocable dispensing valves such as are commonly used on pressurizedcontainers.

More specifically, the plunger immobilizing means of the presentinvention constitutes an improvement over the means disclosed andclaimed in my prior copending application Ser. No. 357,542, filed May 7,1973.

In my prior application, the dispensing pump is of the class in whichthe pump plunger is disposed for reciprocation through an opening in theclosure cap of a container for the product to be dispensed by the pump.The means for selectively immobilizing the plunger is disclosed in thatapplication as comprising a locking ring connected to the cap for rotarymovement about the plunger axis. The said ring carries one or more freeended locking tongues projecting generally transversely to the plungeraxis and normally spaced outwardly from the plunger and from the path ofreciprocation of a stop shoulder carried by the plunger. Cam meanscarried by the closure cap cooperate with the locking tongue or tongueswhen the locking ring is rotated to deflect the free ends of the tonguesradially inward to locking position in the path of movement of the stopshoulder.

The present invention relates to a relatively simplified and morepositively acting locking or immobilizing means having a specificallydifferent and more positive mode of operation than in the said priorapplication.

In accordance with the present invention, the locking elementconstitutes one or more locking fingers which in this case are connectedto and project axially upwardly from the closure cap. Each such fingerhas a free upper end which, though normally displaced from the path ofreciprocation of a locking shoulder on the plunger, is resilientlydeflectible into the path of such shoulder, responsive to rotarymovement of a control ring which encircles the plunger and the lockingfingers and which carries cam means for coaction with the finger orfingers so as selectively either to deflect them radially into the pathof reciprocation of the locking shoulder or to permit their resilientretraction from such path in a second rotary position of the ring.

The invention further comprises a novel disposition and arrangement ofstop means on the control ring and cap, respectively for accurately,selectively, positioning the control ring, either in its operativeimmobilizing position or in an inoperative position to permit retractionor release of the locking fingers.

To promote an understanding of the invention, reference will now be madeto the preferred embodiment thereof, illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, and specific language will be used to describe the same. Itwill, nevertheless, be appreciated that no limitation of the scope ofthe invention is thereby intended, such further modifications andalterations being contemplated as would normally occurred to one skilledin the art to which the invention relates.

IN THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWING FIG. 1 is an axial cross section, on theline ll of FIG. 3, through a dispensing pump incorporating the improvedplunger immobilizing means of the invention, the same being in itslocking or immobilizing position.

FIG. 2 is a view generally similar to FIG. 1, but with the plungerimmobilizing means in its released position and with the plungersubstantially, fully depressed to the lower end of its pump stroke.

FIG. 3 is a section on the line 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged detailed section taken substanwall 12 adapted toextend over and close the upper end of the opening through the containerneck and is formed with a central opening defined by depending guidesleeve 13 through which is reciprocably disposed the hollow plunger tubeof a generally conventional reciprocating pump plunger P. The plungerterminates at its lower end in a piston 16 adapted for cooperation witha pump cylinder (not shown) in the usual manner, the plunger openingdownwardly axially through the piston to communicate with the pumpchamber within the cylinder, whereby on each downstroke of the plungerthe contents of the pump chamber are caused to flow upwardly through thepiston 16 and the'hollow plunger tube 15 for discharge through thegenerally conventional discharge head or actuator 17.

The discharge head, in accordance with usual practice, has an upwardlypresented surface 18 adapted to receive intermittent finger pressure fordepressing the plunger. In accordance with usual practice, the plungeris alternately depressed and released to be resiliently raised aftereach depression by suitable spring means not shown. Such meansconstitutes conventional structure in pumps of the type hereindisclosed. In accordance with usual practice, the discharge head isconnected to the upper end of the hollow plunger tube 15 by a dependingcylindrical sleeve 19, defining a socket for reception of the upper endof the hollow plunger tube 15, and the sleeve is preferably snap fittedat 20 in fluid type manner on the upper end of the plunger tube. Thetube, in turn, communicates through the blind upper end of the socket 19with a discharge orifice 21, open to the atmosphere, the orifice in thepresent instance being exemplified as a spray type orifice through whichthe liquid product is discharged in the form of a fine mist or spray.

The reference numeral 22 designates an external skirt, constituting aunitary portion of the discharge head 17 and depending therefrom in suchmanner as to conceal the upper end of the hollow plunger tube and thesocket 19.

The structure as thus far described is of a purely conventional nature,as will be readily understood by persons skilled in the art. The loweredge 25 of the socket 19 is relied upon as an annular stop shoulderencircling the plunger and located at a predetermined position or level,such that in the fully raised or projected position of the plunger, asillustrated in FIG. 1, it is adapted for coaction with the locking meansof the invention more fully hereinafter described.

The closure cap includes a plurality of locking fingers 26, preferablymolded as unitary portions of the cap and projecting upwardly from thecap. These fingers being arranged in annular formation around theopening 13. The respective fingers have free upper ends which in theirnormal or unstressed conditions are displaced radially outwardly fromthe path of reciprocation of the downwardly presented locking shoulder25 of the plunger, so that the plunger may be freely depressed to theposition illustrated in FIG. 2 without interference.

In the present embodiment, the closure cap is molded of a generallyconventional plastic and the fingers 26 are molded as a unitary portionthereof, the fingers and the nature of the plastic materialrespectively, being so proportioned and selected respectively as toresult in the fingers being relatively stiff, while nevertheless havingsufficient resilient flexibility as to permit their inward deflection toa first or locking position as illustrated in FIG. 1, in which theirfree upper ends are at a common level beneath and in the path ofdownward movement or reciprocation of the locking shoulder 25 of theplunger, for endwise or axial abutment with such shoulder to immobilizethe plunger against downward movement from its fully raised position asshown in FIG. 1.

For selectively urging the fingers 26 to their said locking positions orreleasing them therefrom, there is provided a control ring, designated Rin its entirety, which concentrically encircles the plunger tube 15, aswell as the annularly arranged fingers 26. This control ring R issuitably connected to the cap for rotary movement about the longitudinalaxis of the plunger between its first or locking position as shown inFIGS. 1 and 3 and its second or released position as illustrated inFIGS. 2 and 4.

To this end, the closure cap is provided with an upwardly directedannular skirt 27, having an inwardly directed snap rib 28, the upper endof the skirt being annular and adapted to serve as a bearing for thelower end of the control ring, the latter being formed with the snap rib29 which may be forced past the snap rib 28 to engage therebeneath andmaintain the parts assembled. If desired, the control ring may also beformed with an outwardly projecting abutment, having a lower face 30engaging the upper edge of the upper cap skirt 27 An upwardly directedand preferably externally ribbed or roughened annular wall 31 on thecontrol ring provides a means for manually engaging and imparting rotarymotion to the control ring to rotate it between its first and second orin other words its locking and released positions, as desired. Fordeflecting the free ends of the locking fingers 26 from their first orreleased positions of FIG. 2 to their locking positions of FIG. 1 forendwise abutment with the locking shoulder 25, the control ring isprovided with a cam sleeve 32 encircling the fingers 26 of the plunger15, concentrically to the rotational axis of the control ring andprovided with a plurality of internal cams 33 which in the presentinstance are uniformly, angularly spaced, being in the form of radiallyinward projections, having bevelled or radially inclined end surfaces 34for cooperation with the preferably inclined upper end portions of therespective fingers to thus cam the fingers inwardly beneath the lockingshoulder 25 of the raised plunger as in FIGS. 1 and 3, when therespective cams are brought into angular registry with the respectivefingers 26.

In the embodiment herein illustrated, the circumferential extent of eachof the fingers 26 is somewhat less than the uniform circumferentialspaces or recesses between adjoining cams 33. Upon rotation of thecontrol ring, sufficiently to move the cams 33 from the lockingpositions of FIGS. 1 and 3 to the released positions of FIGS. 2 and 4,the fingers are in angular registry with the respective recesses, andthe inherent resiliency of the respective fingers automatically returnsthem radially outwardly to their normal or unstressed positions withinthe respective recesses. As thus positioned, the fingers are completelyout of the path of downward movement of the locking shoulder 25.

In order to facilitate accurate, selective positioning of the controlring in either its locking or releasing position, suitable coacting stopmeans or positioning stops 35 and 36, as best shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 areprovided on the control ring and on the closure cap respectively. In theillustrated embodiment, the stops 35 assume the form of arcuate ribsegments formed integrally with and depending from the control ringwithin an annular groove 37, defined by the top wall of the closure cap.

At suitable locations within the groove 37, the said groove is spannedby radial ribs constituting the stop or stop means 36. The relativelocations in these stop means 35 and 36 being such that the stop ribs 36in the locked positions of the invention abut against thecounterclockwise directed ends of the arcuate rib segments 35 as in FIG.5, whereas when the parts are accurately located in their releasedposition as in FIGS. 2 and 4, the opposite ends of the arcuate stop ribs35 abut against the respective stops or radial ribs 36.

MODE OF OPERATION The mode of operation of the invention which isbelieved to be obvious from the foregoing is as follows:

It is contemplated that normally a dispensing pump incorporating theinvention will be sold as applied to a container of a particular productto be dispensed. At the time of purchase by the consumer, the pumpplunger will be locked or immobilized in its fully raised position as inFIG. 1 with the free upper ends of the locking fingers 26 disposedbeneath the locking shoulder 25 of the plunger for axial abutmenttherewith to prevent downward movement of the plunger. In this position,it is contemplated that various seals, constituting no part of thepresent invention, will be operative to prevent leakage or seepage ofthe liquid product, all to the end that the product will be effectivelysealed within the container during shipping and storage.

When the consumer desires to place the pump into operation fordispensing the product or a portion thereof, he need only manually graspthe ribbed exterior surface of the control ring R and rotate it from thefirst or immobilizing position of FIGS. 1 and 3, in a clockwisedirection to the second or released position, shown in FIGS. 2 and 4,respectively.

When it is again desired to immobilize the plunger at the end of thedispensing operation, the control ring R may be manually returned to theoperative locking position of FIGS. 1 and 3 with the plunger in itsraised condition as projected by the usual plunger spring, to bethereafter retained in that position by the locking fingers 26.

In the first or immobilizing position as shown in FIG.

5, the control ring R has been rotated in a counterclockwise directionto bring the arcuate ribs or stops 35 of that ring into circumferentialendwise abutment with the radial stops 36 of the cap, which position isattained at the time the control earns 33 of the control ring are inangular registry with the locking fingers 26 respectively to deflect thelatter radially inwardly beneath the locking shoulder 25.

When the locking ring is selectively rotated in a clockwise direction toits released or inoperative position as in FIGS. 2, 4 and 6, it will beseen from FIG. 6 that the opposite ends of the circumferential orarcuate ribs 35 are brought into endwise abutment with the respectiveradial webs or stops 36.

It will be readily apparent that the entire pump structure incorporatingsuch locking means consists of a substantially minimum number of piecesand that it requires, in addition to the usual pump components, only asingle additional component, namely, the control ring R incorporating asunitary portions thereof, the control cam or cams 33.

Further, it will be noted that in the arrangement illustrated, thetelescopically associated skirts 22 and 31 of the discharge head and thecontrol ring, respectively, serve to fully enclose and protect thelocking fingers and their control cams, as well as to conceal thesefunctional parts from view, so as to enhance the overall appearance ofthe device.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a dispensing pump of the class in which a pump plunger is disposedfor reciprocation through an opening in the closure cap of a containerfor a product to be dispensed by said pump, the combination with saidpump of means for selectively immobilizing the plunger, comprising: adownwardly presented locking shoulder encircling said plunger andaffixed thereto; a locking finger connected to and projecting upwardlyfrom said closure cap, said finger having a free upper end, normallydisplaced from the path of reciprocation of said locking shoulder, butbeing resiliently deflectible into said path for axial locking abutmentwith said shoulder; a control ring encircling said finger and saidplunger and connected to said cap for rotary movement around saidplunger and said finger; and cam means carried by said control ring forengagement with said finger in a first rotary position of said ring todeflect the free end of said finger into the path of reciprocation ofsaid locking shoulder, and to permit retraction of the free end of saidfinger from said path in a second rotary position of the ring. 1

2. The combination of claim 1, including a plurality of said lockingfingers, arranged in annular formation around said plunger with theirfree upper ends at a common level, normally spaced radially from theplunger and out of the path of reciprocation of said locking shoulder,there being a similar plurality of cam means carried by the control ringfor simultaneously radially deflecting said free ends of the fingersinto said path.

3. The combination of claim 1, including cooperating stop means on saidclosure cap and said control ring, respectively, for arresting therotary movement of said control ring at said first and second rotarypositions respectively.

4. The combination of claim 2 in which said locking shoulder is anannular downwardly directed surface formed around said plunger.

5. The combination of claim 2 in which said plurality of cam means onthe control ring are relatively, circumferentially spaced apart,sufficiently for reception therebetween of the respective lockingfingers.

6. In combination: a container closure member; a control member mountedon said closure member for rotary movement about a fixed axis; aflowable product dispensing pump having a plunger disposed for axialreciprocation through axial openings in said members; said plungerhaving a downwardly directed stop shoulder thereon; a locking fingeraffixed to one said member with a free end thereof projecting generallyparallel to the axis of reciprocation of said plunger and deflectibletransversely to said axis into and from the path of reciprocation ofsaid stop shoulder; and cam means carried by the other said member forradially deflecting said free end, responsive to relative rotarymovement of the said members.

7. The combination of claim 6 wherein said free end of the lockingfinger is retracted from the path of said stop shoulder in the normalunstressed condition of respective said fingers.

1. In a dispensing pump of the class in which a pump plunger is disposedfor reciprocation through an opening in the closure cap of a containerfor a product to be dispensed by said pump, the combination with saidpump of means for selectively immobilizing the plunger, comprising: adownwardly presented locking shoulder encircling said plunger andaffixed thereto; a locking finger connected to and projecting upwardlyfrom said closure cap, said finger having a free upper end, normallydisplaced from the path of reciprocation of said locking shoulder, butbeing resiliently deflectible into said path for axial locking abutmentwith said shoulder; a control ring encircling said finger and saidplunger and connected to said cap for rotary movement around saidplunger and said finger; and cam means carried by said control ring forengagement with said finger in a first rotary position of said ring todeflect the free end of said finger into the path of reciprocation ofsaid locking shoulder, and to permit retraction of the free end of saidfinger from said path in a second rotary position of the ring.
 2. Thecombination of claim 1, including a plurality of said locking fingers,arranged in annular formation around said plunger with their free upperends at a common level, normally spaced radially from the plunger andout of the path of reciprocation of said locking shoulder, there being asimilar plurality of cam means carried by the control ring forsimultaneously radially deflecting said free ends of the fingers intosaid path.
 3. The combination of claim 1, including cooperating stopmeans on said closure cap and said control ring, respectively, forarresting the rotary movement of said control ring at said first andsecond rotary positions respectively.
 4. The combination of claim 2 inwhich said locking shoulder is an annular downwardly directed surfaceformed around said plunger.
 5. The combination of claim 2 in which saidplurality of cam means on the control ring are relatively,circumferentially spaced apart, sufficiently for reception therebetweenof the respective locking fingers.
 6. In combination: a containerclosure member; a control member mounted on said closure member forrotary movement about a fixed axis; a flowable product dispensing pumphaving a plunger disposed for axial reciprocation through axial openingsin said members; said plunger having a downwardly directed stop shoulderthereon; a locking finger affixed to one said member with a free endthereof projecting generally parallel to the axis of reciprocation ofsaid plunger and deflectible transversely to said axis into and from thepath of reciprocation of said stop shoulder; and cam means carried bythe other said mEmber for radially deflecting said free end, responsiveto relative rotary movement of the said members.
 7. The combination ofclaim 6 wherein said free end of the locking finger is retracted fromthe path of said stop shoulder in the normal unstressed condition ofsaid locking finger.
 8. The combination of claim 7, including aplurality of said locking fingers arranged in annular formationconcentric to the axis of the plunger movement and relatively uniformlycircumferentially spaced, together with a similar plurality of said cammeans, also circumferentially spaced apart, there being recesses betweenadjoining cam members of sufficient size to receive the respective saidfingers.